Seekonk Drivers End Season Strong In NASCAR State and Division Points
The 2016 season at Seekonk Speedway will be one that will remembered for a ‘split championship’ in the Pro Stocks.
The track champion in the Division I NASCAR Whelen All American Series Pro Stock class was Tom Scully Jr. After trying for more than a decade and coming close so many times before, Scully Jr. finally was able to capture the big crown, holding off six-time champion Fred Astle by just 24 points at the conclusion of the season.
Behind the wheel of his Anytime Realty No. 2, Scully Jr. picked up two victories over the course of the season and was one of the fastest cars week in and week out. Scully Jr. also picked up a non-points win during the first annual SLM Nationals in July — a win that was worth $10,000.
Scully Jr. will be honored at the banquet come Nov. 12 at the Venus De Milo in Swansea, Massachusetts as the 2016 Pro Stock track champion.
Astle is also a champion this year. Though Fred was able to capture five wins, he didn’t collect enough points over the course of the year to be the track champion — but he did collect enough to be the NASCAR Massachusetts state champion. With Seekonk being the only track in Massachusetts under the NASCAR sanction, it was a battle of the track Pro Stocks for who would be the state champion.
The point system for the state title is a little bit different than the track points system, which allows for Scully Jr. to win the track title but also allows Astle to win the state title. With his five wins, nine top-five and 15 top-10 finishes in 16 starts in 2016, Astle collected a total of 451 points.
Scully Jr. had two wins, 10 top-five runs and also had 15 top-10 finishes — but he only collected 450 points. Yes, a mere one point was the difference between the two drivers in the state championship when it came down to the end. One of the goals for Scully Jr. after locking up the track title was to somehow beat-out Astle in the final race of the season in order to become the state champion as well. But he came up just short.
“It just is awesome, it’s crazy,” Scully said following his clinching sixth place finish on Sept. 24. “I wanted to win the state championship tonight, but I think Fred got that. We’ll take the track championship though, it’s really awesome.”
In the state championship, Angelo Belsito finished third, with Radical Rick Martin coming home in fourth position when it was all set and done. David Darling rounded out the top-five.
But the Pro Stocks weren’t the only drivers that excelled in NASCAR points this season.
In the NASCAR Division II final standings for all the tracks across the country that are under the sanction, Dylan Estrella — who also won the track championship this season — finished 21st out of the top 100 drivers. Seekonk’s Division II is the Late Model class. Estrella visited victory lane four times and collected 14 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes in his 16 races. Estrella was joined by Austin Blais (43rd), Charlie Rose (45th), Jeramme Lillle (50th), Nick Johnson (68th) and TJ Moreshead (82nd) inside the top 100 in the final Division II standings.
In the NASCAR Division III final standings, the 2016 Seekonk Street Stock champion Scott Bruneau was among those at the top of the pack. With his five feature wins, 11 top-fives and 16 top-10 runs in 18 starts, Bruneau was able to collect 467 points, which slots him in fifth of the top-100 in his State Line Tree Works No. 74. He was joined by Paul Lallier (8th) and Scott Serydynski Jr. (16th) inside the top-20 in the Division III points.
And finally, the Division IV NASCAR standings, the top NASCAR point driver from Seekonk was the 2016 Sports Truck champion Mike Cavallaro. He finished 16th in the top 100 drivers, collecting eight feature wins over the course of the season. He also notched 15 top-five and 17 top-10 runs behind the wheel of his No. 80 Sports Truck. He was joined by Chase Belcher (25th) and Mike “Showtime” Duarte (44th) inside the top 50.
Seekonk Speedway will conclude the 2016 racing season with the annual D.A.V. Fall Classic on Friday Oct. 28 and Saturday Oct. 29, headlined by a $5,000 to win, 150 lap Pro Stock main event. For more information, visit www.seekonkspeedway.com.
Sources: SeekonkSpeedway.com